In post-show interviews after last night’s So You Think You Can Dance Top 4 results show, the questions naturally turned to Nigel Lythgoe’s return as Executive Producer to American Idol, announced by FOX on Thursday.
Nigel tells Fancast that Paula Abdul will NOT be returning as judge to American Idol. “I love Paula, ” Nigel said. “[But] Paula is under contract to another company, so she is unavailable.”
Nigel also confirmed that he will not be taking a seat at the Idol judges panel.
Nigel tells EW that although he hasn’t been privy to any of the negotiations with replacements for Simon Cowell and Ellen DeGeneres, he’s all for the return of Randy Jackson to the judges table, who still has one year left on his Idol contract.
When Nigel described Randy as a “barnacle” in an interview with Variety, it wasn’t meant to be a dis. “For me, a barnacle is secure, it’s solid, ” Nigel explained, “…it means that he’s stuck. Yeah, he’s stuck, and we need him stuck there. He’s the one person who’s gone through this entire mess, if you’d like.”
Nigel is ready to turn the focus on the contestants, “I can’t wait for the day when we take the spotlight off the bloody judges, ” he said.
Here are some ideas Nigel has for tweaking next season’s Idol:
UPDATE: See the VIDEO of Nigel’s post SYTYCD press conference, after the jump!
- A new round after Hollywood week but before America votes in which the remaining contestants are put through further mentoring and training to prepare them to perform.“Say we end up with 50 kids, ” says Lythgoe. “I don’t want to give them to America. I think it’s really tough to say to America, ‘Here’s 50 people, who do you like? Vote!’ You’re voting on the song, or what they’re wearing, or because they’ve got a handsome or pretty face. You’re not voting on their talent, because you don’t know it! And why should you? I would love to whittle that down more…to take them through [a refining] process. You don’t want to expose a lack of talent; you want to celebrate the best talent that you’ve got.”
- Bring in folks from Idol’s new record label, Universal Music Group to mentor the kids ”If we’ve got Universal Music this year, let’s bring in Universal stars, let them mentor, chat, whatever.”
- Film the kids getting makeovers.
- Give the kids dance lessons!
Hm. That extra round. If it’s done right, we could get to know the kids a little better before we start voting. Also, a little coaching before hand might eliminate the “dear in the headlights” problem that pretty much ruined Season 9. Or, Nigel will just bring back the ringers this season.
Sources: Fancast, Entertainment Weekly
Nigel Lythgoe post SYTYCD interview: On next weeks’s finale, Adechike’s elimination and American Idol
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Nigel Lythgoe post SYTYCD interview:
Awesome quotes from Nigel: AMERICAN IDOL is an old woman…She doesn’t need botox, just a feather duster.
On Nigel replacing Simon Cowell as judge: “You don’t follow Sean Connery as James Bond” (Idol stuff starts at about the 4 minute mark)
Also, dancer, Alex Wong is doing very well post surgery!
